How to migrate your online store?

You created your online store a few years ago and you find it obsolete? Do you want to move towards newer, more efficient tools? Are you ready to take the leap but don't know how? Our PIKKA team is there to provide you with all the solutions.

In this article, we will give you all the keys to successfully migrate your e-commerce : procedures, tools, solutions... you will find everything there, so happy reading!

First of all, let's start by defining what an e-commerce site migration is!

A QUESACO migration?

In e-commerce, we use the term migration when data from a first site is transferred to another site . This can impact different elements such as design or ergonomics, but not only. The migration can relate to all or part of your site:

• The evolution of ergonomics and/or design: you created your e-shop 10 years ago and the graphic codes have evolved a little since then, you want to give your design a facelift.
• Content modification : to make your site clearer, to remove duplicates, etc.
• Changing URLs : because your urls are not optimized (for SEO for example), they are too short, too long or badly created and you want to modify them.
• Securing the site: do you want to protect your customers' information and data? To do this, you will need to migrate your site from http to https, the secure and encrypted version of http. It will allow your customers to make purchases in complete safety!
• The evolution to another host: more efficient, faster, cheaper, French… the reasons can be many.
• Migration to a more efficient and/or more suitable CMS due to the evolution of your activity. for example a migration from Prestashop to Shopify or from WordPress to Shopify. It is on this type of project that we will focus.

The desire to change for a more efficient technology, such as Shopify , the change of domain name, the dilapidation of the current site or the merger of several sites are other reasons to migrate to a new e-commerce solution.

Now that you know what “migrating an e-commerce site” is, we can get to the heart of the matter by starting with one of the crucial stages of migration: planning!

Planning: the number one!

Before embarking on your project, it is very important to plan the migration! As in any project, having a rigorous schedule is synonymous with success , so before you start, take the time to think and measure the time it will take to complete your project.

Plan to avoid failure! In e-commerce, when you decide to migrate your store, there are different actors to take into account... a bad schedule will lead to collaboration problems and will greatly complicate your task.

Planning allows you to anticipate! A calendar will allow you to take into account the important moments not to be missed when trading and will prevent you from launching your new solution at an inconvenient time.

Example: launching your new store during the sales is to be avoided. Indeed, if certain adjustments are to be made and you have to put your site on stand-by for a few hours or days, this may cause you to miss out on your business.

And of course, who says planning, says clear and detailed plan, planning of tasks, solicitation and consultation of the various actors!

By the way, speaking of the actors of the project, let's take a closer look at who they are.

The actors of an e-commerce migration.

In a migration project, the actors are numerous but just as important as each other.

And to manage your organization well, here are some principles to respect.

First, assemble a reliable team that you are used to working with. This team may include:

• One or more web developers : they are the experts in the field. They know the CMS better than anyone and will be able to direct you to the best and most suitable solutions for your business. They are also the ones who will tell you what it is possible to do or not
• Web designers . If your migration involves a change in design, call on web designers to "charter" and give your site a soul. Your platform must be in the colors of your brand! Tip, demand the use of figma , one of the best tools for creating e-commerce mockups.
• The editorial manager. He or she will help you in writing/rewriting content, choosing keywords (in collaboration with the SEO department) and can intervene on the moodboard of your e-commerce site (where to place which element and why?)
• The marketing manager. It is he or she who will tell you how to highlight your products on your site, according to your news, the time of year, promotions...
• The legal. Do not forget all the legal notices to appear on your site. The legal department will guarantee this.
• The project manager. A real master of the project, he is the one who coordinates the entire team internally and externally, who manages the timing and the budget in connection with the accounts and the management of course.

This list is of course not exhaustive but it gives you an idea of ​​the actors that you can involve during a migration. But very important point: define the missions and roles of each upstream so that no one comes to encroach on the work of another, but also not to forget a trade which should participate. Appoint managers with whom you will be in direct contact and who will report on the progress of the project. Delimiting the activities and responsibilities of each stakeholder is very important!

Then, explain the reasons that lead you to set up this migration so that everyone clearly understands the objective of the project. Set together the objectives to be achieved by asking yourself the following questions: why are you starting? Where are you leaving from? Where do you want to go ?

Hold project meetings regularly to inform and not leave anyone on the sidelines and especially to give deadlines to the actors .

In any case, do not skimp on the human resources that you allocate to your migration project . To transfer your CMS, you will need to surround yourself with experts in the field . Migrating a website is not a trivial operation and can cause damage if things are not done in order. Think about your SEO and be careful not to lose visibility on search engines.

The choice of CMS

As you will have understood, one of the important steps is to choose your e-commerce platform . At Pikka we strongly recommend SHOPIFY! Why ? Discover our article dedicated to SHOPIFY and its advantages for your e-commerce store .

The choice of the host platform for your e-commerce is therefore an essential element during your preparation. To your liking, intuitive, in line with your IS and your values, everything must be considered!

How to choose between Open source and SAAS?

Please note there are no good or bad solutions, at PIKKA we believe that e-commerce is first and foremost about encounters… professionals who have handed you the right tools at a time when you were not expecting it. !

Joking aside, to choose, we advise you to seek the advice of professionals . Many criteria can tip the balance towards one or the other solution: delivery times, objectives, mastery of tools, etc.

Remember, open source offers greater possibilities but requires specific technical skills when the SAAS solution is turnkey (a SAAS solution stands for Software As A Service, a bit like your online bank). It allows you to delegate the technical part and offers frequent updates made by experts**.**

Very soon we will dedicate an article on the difference between open source solutions and SAAS solutions.

Build and test

The final and not least step is to build and test the solution implemented during the migration . Be careful, never to launch your e-commerce platform without having tested it (whether at its creation or after its migration). This advice is also valid for ALL projects without exception. When we launch a new concept, product… we test it and have it tested by outside people, to be sure that the solution is easy, accessible, intuitive…

The migration is complete!

Congratulations, you've followed the steps to the letter and you're a success! But be careful, you still have one small thing to do. You must close your old e-store.

A word of advice, wait a few weeks of using the new store, check that all the data has been recovered and that everything is working perfectly, it would be a shame to rush and risk losing part of your activity.

And how can we help you?

Do you need to migrate your e-commerce? Do you want a quote for your new merchant site ? Our team is here to support you and help you transfer your store to Shopify as well as possible.

To find out more, click here .